


The Best Little Whorehouse In Sami

by Dr_Hoffmans_Mechanic



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 15:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17831114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_Hoffmans_Mechanic/pseuds/Dr_Hoffmans_Mechanic





	1. Chapter 1

Kassandra pushed tentatively at the door. It was still early for Selene and the others to be up and about and she half expected to find it locked.

She was already running through in her mind how she could best get into the house without using anyone’s bedroom window.

Suddenly the door flew open and Clio threw a bucket of water over her feet.

“Oh...shit,” she put a hand to her mouth and dropped the empty bucket to the floor. “I am so sorry. I didn’t see you there...obviously.”

She reached out and grabbed Kassandra’s arm pulling her a step closer.

“Oh...did I get your things wet?” she cast a glance at the drawstring sack flung over her shoulder.

“No, no,” Kassandra shook her foot, dog like. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it, really.”

“Clio!” Selene’s voice carried from inside. “Did you already...Kassandra, sweetheart! I wasn’t expecting you till later, what a nice surprise. What happened here?” she looked at the water, pooled about her feet.

“That was me,” Clio admitted, uncharacteristically dismal. “I didn’t see her there.”

Selene raised an eyebrow, suggesting that she considered this quite an oversight.

“I did finish the floors though,” Clio grinned hopefully.

Ah, so it was dirty water, Kassandra thought, well this was a good start.

“Come inside, come inside,” Selene took her arm and urged her over the threshold. “Clio, pick up that bucket dear, and why were you throwing it out of the front door anyway, have a little class.”

It was cool and unusually airy inside, furniture had been moved against the walls and all the windows were open, shutters thrown wide.

Selene noticed Kassandra looking about.

“We have to give the place a thorough cleaning periodically,” she explained. “Just to improve the overall ambience.”

“She means it stinks like fish and fucking if we don’t,” Clio made her way past them to take the bucket back out to the pump.

“An inevitable consequence of running a brothel by a dock,” Selene decided to let Clio’s succinct description pass. You couldn’t chide her every time she was earthy; you’d never stop.

It wasn’t as though it was inaccurate after all, and Kassandra had spent enough time here by now to know exactly what went on.

“But that doesn’t mean we should let things slide. Where is Europa by the way?” She called after Clio.

“Out getting the lavender and sage you wanted,” she called back. “while I scrub the filthy floors,” she observed tartly.

“Europa did the floors last time,” Selene explained, leaning into Kassandra’s side and rolling her eyes. “Clio just loves to complain. But then you know that as well as I do.”

“I don’t mind doing floors,”Kassandra volunteered. “I do the cleaning at home.”

Selene was well aware that Kassandra did most things at home, in fact everything that wasn’t a shady deal fell to her lot, and she was inevitably drawn into those as well more often than not.

“Well I’m not paying you to scrub floors,” Selene patted Kassandra’s forearm.

Kassandra’s arms on the other hand, she reflected, very much _were_ what she was paying her for.

“When I came here, I didn’t think you were paying me to scrub floors either,” Clio leaned in the doorway. Her skirts were tucked up into her belt in an effort to keep them clean and Kassandra found her eyes drifting to her plump, brown legs.

She shook her head quickly.

“I don’t mind, really, if I’m here I might as well be useful,” she pointed out.

“If you can be useful as well as decorative so much the better, I always say,” Clio laughed, pulling a little pouch of mint leaves out of her pocket and popping a few in her mouth. Chewing, she offered the bag to Selene and Kassandra, who both declined.

“We can discuss all this later,” Selene decided, “Here let me take your bag and we can get you settled in.”

“On no, no. It’s heavy,” Kassandra picked it up as though it weighed nothing. “I brought a few weapons. Just for appearances,” she added quickly. Selene had been quite adamant that she didn’t want any deaths on the premises. “And some extra clothes just in case.”

“Oooh! Just in case what?” Clio grinned cheekily.

“In case I get blood on me,” Kassandra explained.

“All right. Not my personal thing, but I don’t judge.” Clio shrugged, to Kassandra’s puzzlement.

“We’ve put you in the linen cupboard,” she gestured with her thumb to a wooden door far off at the opposite end of the room.

“It’s not a cupboard,”Selene protested. “We just call it that. It’s a small room really. I’ve got a folding bed for when you want to spend the night. We just need to move some of the shelves and set it up.”

Kassandra made her way over to the door that Clio had indicated.

“There is another room upstairs,” Selene heard herself dithering a little. “But we use it for… more… involved scenarios...” she tailed off.

Kassandra looked at her expectantly, but nothing else seemed to be forthcoming. She cast a hopeful glance towards Clio who could usually be relied on for basic information. Sometimes very basic.

“Sometimes men want things that require a lot of...extra equipment,” Clio sighed, “it’s all in that room. I suppose we could clear it all out...but I don’t know where we will be able to tie down big, drunk sailors then?” she looked over at Selene, who gave a weak shrug.

“No,” Kassandra shook her head, not feeling particularly enlightened. “I’m sure this will be fine. Besides I don’t plan to spend the nights. I’ll go back when everything is safe for the night. Get back before Markos worries.”

Clio snorted, inelegantly.

“Markos can stick it up his ass,” she snapped. “It’s not his concern what you do any more, you’re practically a grown woman, and it’s not like he’s even your pater.”

Selene gave her a sharp, warning look and Clio stopped, chastened.

Selene was not entirely sure how Kassandra saw her relationship with Markos if she was honest. It certainly wasn’t overtly paternal though, Clio was right about that.

Selene knew Markos was fond of the girl in an awkward, poorly expressed way.

But he was more like an emotionally unpredictable uncle, laughing and good humoured when Kassandra was being no trouble and requiring little effort on his part; then brusque and snappish if he considered she was being unreasonably demanding.

As she matured it seemed as though he considered she was being unreasonable with increasing frequency.

He had been ill prepared to raise a child; any child, let alone a traumatised little girl who had experienced so much loss and was struggling to process it.

When she saw how he struggled, Selene had tried to persuade him to allow her to take the girl. He would still see her, she could run over every day, help him with his business. But he adamantly refused.

She was his. He had found her.

Selene pointed out that the child wasn’t some lost bangle that he’d found in the street. She was a troubled little girl who needed love and stability in her life.

Markos had said some unwise things about just how much stability she would find in a whorehouse, and asked why, exactly, Selene was so keen to raise her.

That had been their first major argument.

It seemed all their serious arguments had been about Kassandra, she thought sadly, and not one of them had been the girl’s fault.

Now that she was making the awkward, volatile transition from girl to woman Markos was even more out of his depth.

Frankly, he was no better at dealing with women, than he was children and it seemed as though every day recently Kassandra had come to Selene’s, bearing some gift of game or fish, having stormed away from another row with Markos.

Sometimes Selene lay awake in the early hours, watching dawn lighten her room, worrying that one day one of them would kill the other. And honestly, her money was on Kassandra.

Not on purpose of course. Despite it all, she knew the girl loved Markos after a fashion, even if she was no better at expressing her emotions than he was. How could she be, after everything?

But Selene wasn’t convinced it was healthy. Hadn’t the child just convinced herself to love Markos because she was in debt to him, reliant on him for food, clothing, shelter, whatever unpredictable scraps of affection he tossed her way?

Soon she wouldn’t need him for any of those things.

Selene could see Kassandra beginning to realise this for herself, even if Markos was too blind and stubborn to acknowledge it. He would still try to hold over her the debt she owed him for rescuing her from the beach.

He was like a man who had been poking a lion cub with a stick for so long that he had forgotten it would one day grow into a great beast that could take off his head.

Selene was afraid. Afraid that he would prod Kassandra one time too many. That her temper would snap, that she would lash out at him, provoked too far. And if she lashed out, there was only one way it would end.

She was young, strong, taller and broader than him and trained to fight. Markos was soft, weak, slow. She would kill him without even meaning to.

Selene wanted more than anything to spare her that. Kassandra didn’t need another burden.

“See? It sort of _is_ a cupboard,” Clio was saying, leaning against Kassandra’s side as they peered into the linen store.

“You exaggerate,”Selene joined them, looking around Clio’s shoulder.

Oh shit! She thought, dismally. It _was_ a cupboard.

Well not technically, it was far too large for that. Even with the shelves full of towels, bedding, cups and flasks of wine there was still ample room for the narrow bed, and a table, perhaps a small chest for Kassandra to store her things?

And not a single window, Selene thought, shamed.

Of course she’d known there were no windows. But how could it not have occurred to her until this moment, that the offering of independence she was laying at Kassandra’s feet, begging her to accept, was a room with no windows.

She was asking a child who had nearly drowned in the dark, to sleep in a room with no windows.

She was mortified.

“I did offer to share my bed,” Clio was continuing. “But Selene said no. It’s like she doesn’t trust me with you,” she glanced over at Selene.

It hadn’t been that. Clio teased Kassandra mercilessly at times but she and Europa were both very fond of her. Clio might be a little robust at times, but she would never overstep the mark, she told herself.

No, she’d wanted Kassandra to have some space of her own, a modicum of privacy. How could she not have realised how inappropriate it was?

Oh gods, she hadn’t thought this through at all had she? Why did she always think she could solve other people’s problems?

She buried her face in her hands and gave a huge sigh.

Both Kassandra and Clio looked over at her. There was a lengthy silence, broken only by the muffled clucking of the neighbours’ chickens through the open window.

“It’s fine,” Kassandra announced suddenly. “It’s not much smaller than my room back home. If I move those shelves a bit to the left there’s room for the other shelves next to them, that will make a bit more space,” she stepped in, cracking her head against the door-frame.

Clio gave a sympathetic hiss but Kassandra shook it off and began to put up the bed.

“See,” she looked over her shoulder. “It’s fine, Selene. There’s plenty of space. If I move these towels up here I can put my things on the bottom shelf out of the way. It’s fine.”

Selene, took a deep breath and lowered her hands.

Kassandra stood in the dim store room, smiling hopefully at her.

Selene knew that Kassandra must recognise its lack of windows as well as she did.

“Now that you’ve done that it looks much better,” Clio stepped in to join her, hugging Kassandra’s arm and leaning into her, giving Selene an encouraging smile.

“It’s bigger than it looks. There’s plenty of room for two. Not that there’s going to be two..” she gave Kassandra a playful nudge. “I mean unless you want there to be two? That’s totally up to you. Anything goes here. Bit chancy on that bed, mind you”

“Anything does not go, thank you Clio,” Selene exhaled. “In fact that is precisely why we hired Kassandra.”

Perhaps they could do this after all? Perhaps between them all they could make this work?

She stepped inside the store room. It was cramped, but there was just enough room for her to perch on the edge of the bed.

“And it’s not like I’m going to be in here much,” Kassandra added. “Just when it’s too late to go home, or raining.”

She still wasn’t taking that last step Selene realised, she was teetering on the edge, not brave enough yet to jump. But Selene wouldn’t push.

Kassandra had been told what to do every day of her life. She needed to make this decision on her own.

“What did Markos say when you told him you were our new hired muscle?” Clio teased.

Markos would be bitter and resentful Selene knew.

He would think Selene had been sly, had somehow poached away his own personal enforcer.

She knew he already sent Kassandra out to collect payments from recalcitrant customers. That was only going to increase. The better she became at it, the more he would use her.

He would be furious to not have constant access to her.

But in the long term his relationship with Kassandra might well improve, she thought.

They might be able to see each other more clearly with a bit of distance between them. Might stop sparking off each other if they weren’t at each other’s shoulders all the time.

The rift between him and Selene would deepen though, perhaps he would never forgive her for it.

She would miss him a little, she thought.

He could be good company when he was on form, with his pockets full of drachmae. He wasn’t the best lover she had ever had, but he was kind in bed, had learned how to give her pleasure. Sometimes, in her line of work, Selene craved a little kindness.

“Oh shit! You’ve not told him yet?” Clio realised.

Selene looked up.

Yes, she’d miss him sometimes, but not enough to sacrifice Kassandra on the altar of Markos’ adequacy.

“You should tell him soon,” she smiled gently. “Soon. Before he finds out for himself.”

Footsteps approached and Europa appeared at the door, a basket of fragrant herbs at her hip a perplexed look on her face.

“Why are you all in the linen cupboard?”

“It’s not a cupboard,” said Clio softly.


	2. Chapter 2

Kassandra didn’t go back to Markos’ that night. Europa had expressed concern that she would be too tired, working for Markos all day, then at Selene’s in the evening, to make the trek home.

She’d been right, Kassandra thought, yawning widely. 

It hadn’t been a difficult evening. She had been required to do nothing much besides loom in a corner and look potentially menacing. Still, it was the early hours of the morning by the time she eventually ushered the final reluctant drunk out of the door, barring it behind him.

Dawn would be breaking in a couple of hours. 

She was usually up at dawn, ready to go for a run then meet up with Andras for training more often than not.

The fact that she would be deposing Andras was the only thing that had prevented Kassandra from saying yes immediately when Selene had suggested the work. She had wanted to check with him first. Make sure that she wasn’t stepping on his muscular toes.

“You will do well,” he’d shaken his head. “Easy work for you. Just drunks. I leave soon anyway.”

She’d been a little surprised by his verbosity.

“Leaving?” she realised what he had said. 

“Mmm,” he nodded. “Selene is a good woman. I want more drachmae though. Want a farm. Somewhere not here.”

“Oh,” Kassandra had been reluctant to voice her next question. It was selfish.

He seemed to realise what it was though and slapped her hard on the shoulder.

“Nothing else I can teach you. You are a misthios now.”

Kassandra wasn’t entirely convinced. 

But this evening she had begun to feel like one. She’d done an evening’s work for an evening’s pay. Selene’s drachmae weighed pleasantly heavy in her pocket.

Europa and Clio had staggered off to bed, kissing her and thanking her for keeping them safe. She’d felt useful. Valued. And tired.

Opening the door to the linen store, however, she’d realised that she didn’t want to sleep in there. 

Not just yet, she told herself. She’d been inside nearly all day, she needed some fresh air, that was all.

Now she lay on the roof, hands locked behind her head, gazing up at the stars. 

The sky was so huge, and the island so small. She could see practically all of it from the head of mighty Zeus at its centre. 

If she sat up now she would be able to see the track to Markos’ house, even if she couldn’t really make it out in the dark.

She wondered what he was doing? Sleeping probably, she told herself, something she should be doing. She had a day’s work ahead of her in a couple of hours. But she was too tense to sleep.

She knew what Selene was up to of course; knew why she’d suddenly offered Kassandra work, a place to stay. She knew she was the cause of Selene’s falling out with Markos.

In fact Kassandra knew that she herself was always somehow at the root of Markos and Selene’s fallings out. But this time seemed different. 

Usually they reconciled fairly quickly, within hours sometimes. But it had been months and months now and Selene seemed immoveable.

Markos had initially sent Kassandra with wheedling little peace offerings; flowers, choice fruit, small items of jewellery, and each time Selene had sent her right back with them.

When she’d tried to intercede, Selene had, politely but firmly, explained that this was a matter for her and Markos to deal with and that Kassandra was not to concern herself with it.

She had a vested interest in reconciliation, she had to admit. Markos was always happier, more agreeable after a night with Selene. 

Clio had given Kassandra an earthy explanation of exactly why that was, but she didn’t think it was just the sex. Kassandra had known for some time that you could release sexual tension quite effectively on your own, something else that Clio had obligingly explained.

No, he missed Selene. Her company, as well as her body. She tempered Markos somehow, took him out of himself, made him more sensitive to other’s needs and opinions, even if it was only for a little while.

Deprived of her civilising influence he was currently managing to be both morose and snappy most of the time. 

He would not be happy about this latest development. And Selene was right, he would find out before too long. 

He knew everyone on the island, and Kassandra knew perfectly well that he had been probing his contacts for news about Selene. 

Was business good? Were there many new customers? Any who came frequently? To see Selene? Did she have a new favourite? And where was she getting her wine from now?

Within a couple of days someone was bound to, either innocently or maliciously, tell him that Kassandra was providing protection of an evening. 

That she was sneaking out in the evenings to be Selene’s hired muscle.

She sat up wearily. The village was beginning to wake, the sounds of a new day drifting up to the roof. She should get back.


	3. Chapter 3

“Kassandra!” Markos had spotted her trudging wearily up the track. “Praise the gods!” he exclaimed delightedly.

This was a little unexpected Kassandra thought, opening the gate and approaching cautiously.

“There you are,” he was beaming. “I missed you.”

“You did?” she cocked an eyebrow and gave him a surprised smile.

“Of course,” he gave her shoulder a slap. “I needed you to run into Sami for me and you were nowhere to be found, but your bow was in your room. I was worried.”

“You went into my room?” she asked warily, she didn’t have much privacy around the place as it was.

“Of course I went into your room. To see if you were there. You weren’t. So what are you worried about? Where in Hades were you anyway?” he was becoming gradually less jovial. 

He seemed to suddenly realise the significance of her bow being in her room.

“Have you been out all night?” he stepped in close and sniffed. “Have you been drinking?”

Kassandra had drunk nothing but water the previous evening, wanting to keep her wits about her.

“No, I haven’t,” she edged away from him, already on the defensive

“Then why do you stink of stale wine?” he frowned. “Where have you been? Have you been out with some boy?” he gasped and took a step back. 

She’d never expressed any interest before, he thought, but it was inevitable surely? 

“You have, haven’t you? You’ve been out all night drinking with some boy? Is it that Calix?”

He’d seen the carter’s son eyeing her sometimes when his father was delivering and Kassandra was working in the yard. Shifty little bastard, he would tan his hide for him.

“No?!” Kassandra frowned, wondering where this had come from.

“Look. Look,” he extended his hands in appeasement.

“I understand. I do. I was young once. You’re growing up. You’re getting...feelings and you don’t know what to do about them. But boys aren’t to be trusted. Especially after a few drinks. They’ll tell you anything Kassandra. Ply you with wine, tell you how pretty you are...well maybe not pretty exactly...”he gestured up and down her.

“But they’ll say it anyway,” he got back on track, “anything just to get a girl into bed. And you don’t have enough experience of that kind of thing. It’s dangerous. You’re of an age now when, well, things can happen, I mean I assume you are, I don’t know, I don’t want to know, but you look big enough...”

“What are you talking about?!” Kassandra interrupted. She had a vague, irritated idea of what he was babbling about. 

“There is no boy. I haven’t been drinking. Do I sound drunk? Do I look hungover?” She spread her arms and looked defiantly at him.

He stopped and thought about this for a moment.

“Then where have you been?” he frowned. “You didn’t take your bow, so you’ve not been hunting and you’ve definitely been somewhere people have been drinking, it’s all over you.”

This was it she supposed. She couldn’t think of a plausible lie. 

She’d taken a change of clothes with her to Selene’s imagining the aftermath of a bloodied nose perhaps, why hadn’t she thought of this?

“Don’t lie to me, Kassandra,” he took a step forward, voice low. “I deserve better than lies, after all I have done for you.”

“Oh this again?” Kassandra sighed, suddenly weary of it all. 

“Yes, this again,” he snapped. “You’d have been begging in the streets if I hadn’t taken you in and put a roof over your head. And all I ask is for a little help around the place. Is that so unreasonable? I’m not asking for the world. I let you go out hunting, carry on with your training. I just want you to run the odd errand every now and again, and these days it’s as though every time I look around for you, you’ve wandered off fuck knows where.” 

He threw up his hands in despair, turning and walking away a few paces, before spinning back round.

“Yesterday I just needed you to run into Sami and collect some money for me. Food doesn’t grow on trees you know?”

“That’s not entirely true,” Kassandra said wearily, sitting down on the wall, hands loose between her knees.

“Eh?” he frowned for a moment. “Oh yes, you’re very funny right now. Let’s see how funny you are when there’s no food on the table tonight.”

“There’s a chicken right behind you Markos, and barley in the shed,” Kassandra sighed. “And I won’t be here tonight.”

“Really now? And are you going to tell me where you will be?” he advanced a little rashly, scowling. “Or do I have to sit up all night again, worried that a...a giant bear or something has eaten you! And don’t run your smart mouth about how there are no giant bears on Kephallonia, or whatever you were just about to do young lady, because I’ve had about enough of that.”

Kassandra got to her feet. She was weary, rather than angry, but he didn’t recognise the difference and withdrew a couple of feet, taking himself out of range.

This was it. She realised. The tipping point.

“I’ll be where I was last night, Markos,” she looked at him sadly. “At Selene’s.”

The colour drained from his face.

“I’ll be there from now on,” she only realised this herself, as the words were coming out of her mouth. “I will come round every day, help out around the place. If you need me between times now you know where to get word to me.”

He said nothing as she walked past him.

Some minutes later she reappeared with her bow over her back and a large, drawstring sack over her shoulder.

“I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything,” she stopped by him, waiting, giving him a moment to say something, anything, to try and change her mind.

When he didn’t speak, she hitched the bag containing her belongings a little higher on her shoulder and walked past him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Markos. It will probably be later than this though,” she would need sleep.

She had walked a few paces before he regained enough composure to yell after her.

“Don’t bother, I don’t want to see you tomorrow. Or the day after. In fact don’t come back until you’re ready to apologise. You seem to think that I can’t run things properly around here without you. You forget I was managing quite happily before I brought you home.”

 

Selene and the others were still asleep when she returned. Her life had turned upside down and it wasn’t even lunchtime, Kassandra thought.

She rattled the door and immediately realised it was barred. She’d done it herself last night, and had leapt down off the roof this morning. She shook her head, laughing wryly. Back to the roof then, she thought.

The smell of fresh bread reached her on the breeze and she was suddenly reminded that she’d eaten nothing since the previous evening. She was ravenous. Her mouth watered at the thought of a fresh roll.

Then she remembered that she had drachmae in her pocket. She could have a damn roll. She could walk right over and get one right now.

The baker eyed her warily as she approached.

“Good morning Kassandra. I am absolutely certain that I do not owe Markos a drachma,” he held up his hands, shaking his head.

Kassandra gave it a moment’s thought and then smiled.

“I’m only here for a fresh roll. No wait,” she corrected herself. “Two, please.”

 

Selene woke a couple of hours later. She was thirsty and there was no water in the jug. Getting up and pulling on her robe she opened her bedroom door. She could hear the muffled coughing and grumbling of Europa and Clio getting ready to face another day.

“Eurgh, needs airing out,” she sniffed, descending the stairs and opening the shutters. She made her way over to the kitchen to get some water and open the door to the yard.

On impulse she stopped by the door to the linen store and listened carefully. Silence. 

Tapping lightly she waited for a response. Receiving none she opened the door a crack and peeped in. Gods it was dark. She opened the door fully.

The bed was empty. It didn’t look as though it had been touched.

She sighed and closed the door softly. It was too much to expect things to change so quickly, she told herself. She was expecting Kassandra to take a huge step. 

She was going to have to do something about the sleeping arrangements though, that would help surely?. Perhaps they could give her the choice between sharing a room and using the store depending on how she felt on a given night?

It would have to be Clio after all. She was the one not receiving semi regular, early hours visits from a lover. They could discuss it when Kassandra returned from Markos’ later.

In the kitchen she threw open the door and took a deep breath. She was greeted by two large sandalled feet hanging over the edge of the small roofed porch area. Stepping out quietly she could hear a soft regular snoring. 

There was small piece of fresh roll on the floor by her feet. Selene picked it up, dusted it off and ate it as she looked up at Kassandra, flat on her back, fast asleep on the roof.

Yes, they were definitely going to have to discuss the sleeping arrangements. Clio would be simply insufferable.


End file.
